:read2: Ah yes.....my Hemi Roadrunner. When I was stationed at Fort Knox, I was seriously interested in buying one of the new Fairlanes that Ford was going to put out with the 427 medium riser dual quad engines with the big top loader 4-speed. I plunked down a $300 deposit (don't know why the font shifted) and waited 3-months. The dealer couldn't give me a delivery date. I confronted him personally and it was then that he told me that they were all "spoken for" and that I had to be in the who's who to have been on the list. I told him it was a fine time to tell me. I demanded my deposit back. I had heard rumors that Chrysler was going to be making a new lightweight performance car that was affordable for the youth market. When I got back to Maysville on the weekend, Iwent to Carpenter Motors and asked about it. Mr. Carpenter showed me the factory notice letter verifying it. I glady put down the $300 returned deposit and said, "I want one right now!" I ordered a red post coupe with a black vinyl top and tinted glass, standard AM radio, drum brakes (that was dumb), 426 Hemi, 4-speed, Dana 60, 4.10 sure Grip.
The car came 2 months later, complete with rubber matted floor and taxi cab vinyl seat covers. It came off the truck on a cold winter morning around 6:00 am. My buddy Jerry Rains from Rains Automotive knew I ordered it and he beat me to the dealer's as it was being unloaded. He was a Mopar man that raced a S/S stage 3 max wedge Coronet 440 2-dr sedan. I told him I was going to bring it to him to have Cyclone headers and an adjustable pinion snubber installed. If the dealer knew, it would void the short warranty. We got that stuff done and then upgraded with a Hurst Competition Plus shifter. Everyone in town wanted me to take them for a ride and beat on it! I didn't do that very much. My girlfriend really loved the Hemi too.
It didn't take long at the drive-in circuit before some guys wanted a piece of it. Most didn't care if they got beat - they just wanted to see how their ride compared and, of course, wouldn't put up any cash. After getting tired of this routine, I made it known that all runs would be $20 or more. That may not sound like a bunch of money but back then it really was. My car payment was $135 a month on a $3,400 car. (By the way, my Roadrunner was number 6! and the very first one produced with the Hemi. It would be worth a fortune today at Barrett Jackson)
The hot cars were now coming out of southern Ohio....Ripley and West Union and some from Portsmouth. A guy in West Union had bought a Hurst Olds 442. He made the trip down to Aberdeen and the drive-in circuit and pulled in next to me and Jane. We made small talk and got out to inspect each other's cars. It wasn't long before he asked for a race and he pulled out $20. Jane didn't want me to do it but it was time for her to be home or get grounded. I crossed the river and met up with "The Mailman" (that's what we called him because he worked at the Post Office in West Union). A crowd of about 100 people had gathered from all over, excited to see the race. It had become very dangerous to race on 52 because of two lanes and so many people lined the edges of the road to watch. Cars and people lined the whole quater mile on both sides of the road!! They were standing right by your car when you popped the clutch! I took mailman aside and told him we needed to race at an alternate place and not say where and he agreed. Well, it didn't work out. We could not stop the long line of cars on our tails. We did go to Mary Inglis Hwy on the Kentucky side of the River where we had a quarter marked off. It too was two lane but it was new black top and wider. Of course friends and fools dangerously lined the roads there too. We agreed on a best of 3 and raised the stakes to $100. Jerry Rains was going to be the flashlight starter and the mailman's friend would verify at the finish line and signal. Jerry had brought some of that yellow rosin traction powder and sprinkled it down and broomed it in for both of us. We did our burnouts through it and line up to run. We had to back off to let an 18-wheeler get through and then took our places again. We left dead even and stayed that way through first and second. That 455 really had the torque with the 4.10 gears. I shifted the Hemi at 7,000 rpm and his Olds was way out of beans in that area. By the time I was midway through 3rd gear I was ahead by a least a car and pulling. The Hemi pulled strong in fourth and I easily won the first round. We turned around and came back to race the other way. He jumped out and let some of the air out of his rear tires hoping for a traction advantage. I actually INCREASED my rear pressure when I raced with street tires and it worked far better! We left even (no rosin) and the Olds went up in rubber smoke. The 2,500 rpm leave with the Hemi let it hook good just before the second gear shift just running on the rear AFB. All 8 barrels were sucking just before the 2nd gear power shift. At that point the Mailman was clearly visible in my rearview mirror. By the other end I had pulled him at least 5-cars. We turned around again on the rosin starting line ready to go when a guy came up and shouted that someone had called the cops and that the Sherrif and Highway Patrol were on the way. People started to scatter everywhere and half the crowd instantly disappeared. I asked Mailman what he wanted to do and he said "run 'em". His man got in the car with him and Jerry got in with me. His man said, "On the count of 3". Even with the rosin, the Olds didn't hook and I just drove away. He knew he was beat and just let off. We turned into the side road by the cemetary and turned off our lights. Just as the Mailman was paying me, a trooper flew by at about 100 with light flashing! He probably drove all the way to Augusta trying to catch us. We drove the other way back into town. When we got into Maysville, the Sherrif was waiting and he pulled out behind me, flashed his lights and pulled me over. He gave me the 3rd degree and checked my driver's license. He couldn't ticket me or arrest me because he didn't catch me in the act. He said so himself. Before he went back to his car, he leaned in the window and with a smile said, "Did the Hemi win?". Jerry and I laughed and then I showed the man my rolled up $100. He laughed and said, "I know your daddy and I'm gonna tell him!"
We all went home and behaved ourselves. Mailman hated losing but he was a good sport. He went on to spend a ton of money on his engine. The next time we both raced was on slicks, on rosin, on hwy 52, one run only. The Maysville Hemi beat him by 2-cars and here is the good part....that run was for $500! I took a trip to Florida!
Pat
Keep the stories coming but don't wear yourself out. I want to keep looking for new stories every week!
